wmw999

Ok, you deny her existence, along with the existence of every intersex and hermaphrodite out there. What are your well-considered and erudite thoughts on the topic of men who have had to have their lenisses removed for health reasons? Its probably a good thing you were equipped with a penis. I doubt you have the kind of fortitude it takes to have a vagina in a gendered society Wendy P.

You've never answered the question about people who have penises AND vaginas (and the accompanying sex organs) at birth. I have a sample size of one (my friend) who assured me that removing the vagina and leaving the (functioning) penis did not make her feel like a man, even though she lived as one most of her life. Maybe, just maybe, there's something more to that than our social construct of what it means to be a man or a woman? Wendy P.

Well, some folks I knew complained mightily. But when you consider that our parents (the Greatest Generation mostly, or their Lost or Silent post and pre-generations) were very much of the "suck it up and pretend nothing happened" types, it's not surprising that Ford did that, or that there was as little pushback as there was. Wendy P.

Well, you guys all did better than I did with recording it... But it was still cool. Wendy P.

He’s not running. That said, I still think it’s more important to keep the guy who wants to change the social (and constitutional) contract of how office is earned and held, along with the civil service that your pal Theodore Roosevelt fought so hard for Or are you OK with the purity and personal (as opposed to national) loyalty tests that are coming? Wendy P.

I believe the solution of returning to a more progressive tax code was suggested. Kind of like we had in those wonderful 50’s Wendy P.

Just got to watch a total eclipse of the sun, from a Walmart parking lot in Vermont. Along with plenty of other people who had the same idea. No good pictures (I only had glasses, not a camera filter), so you’ll just have to trust me Wendy P.

My memory is that you didn’t really like Trump, but felt it was more important to keep Hillary Clinton out of the White House, so you voted for him. Id submit that Trump is a greater threat to how our country operates; one of the best things about the US is that we trust our succession, and that the person fills the position, not that the position is wrapped around the person. But that was threatened in 2020, and Trump has made it clear that he doesn’t intend to accept a loss this year, that he plans to pardon people who consider an invasion of the Capitol and the shenanigans that went along with it to be OK. In addition, his need for personal loyalty (rather than to the position) is very concerning. Personally, I consider this to be a significant threat to the structure of the country. Wendy P.

I just heard the term LINO. Love it. Wendy P.

There's their problem -- nobody trusts them. MAGAs think they're RINO's, and only some liberals will listen to them, and some of them only for support, never for disagreement. Yes, that's a gross generalization Wendy P.

Yep. Wendy P.

The purpose of taxation is to support the infrastructure that allows all this free enterprise. That includes schools, so that your enterprise can have educated employees, even in the more menial jobs. It includes roads, so that your company infrastructure can be built up (even if you're largely virtual, how do you think transmission towers are installed -- and how is the infrastructure to put those satellites into orbit maintained?). It includes the regulation of healthcare, so that the medical personnel are at least somewhat qualified. Lots of things -- and the vast majority of those things are determined because they were a big enough problem to warrant addressing by the government. Just like all those silly rules about building airplanes still apply -- even though there is software to help (at least until the efficiency experts do some analysis to see that humans now perform perfectly). If something is truly no longer needed (e.g. large-scale manure disposal in cities), it'll go away. Maybe even the rules around it will go away -- but who wants to pay our legislators to go through all those rules (remember -- most of them written in blood or cost) to pull out the ones that aren't necessary any more -- and who can truly be certain? That's what his taxes are paying for, too. And, frankly, I don't envy him his low tax rate. We pay a significantly higher rate, and I'm OK with that. Because we retired to this part of the country in part because of the infrastructure -- 5 minutes from the freeway, train station in town to NYC, bus service all over, good healthcare in the area, educational and entertainment opportunities in town to keep us alert. None of those things are truly free, even if there's no entry fee to a particular concert. Why shouldn't we pay to keep that infrastructure? Wendy P.

Interesting; the accuser in that case (Tara Reade) seems to have considerably less credibility overall than the accuser of Brett Kavanaugh. As in, no, she didn't tell anyone else; the complaint she filed with the Senate office didn't mention anything about assault; she said he made her feel uncomfortable because he complimented her looks, and made her serve drinks to Senators. To go along with the fact that she has a pretty solid reputation for lying, both in public and under oath, it seems a little shakier than either Trump or Kavanaugh in the sexual assault category. Wendy P.

Interesting. I have plenty, and I don't envy richer people. I'm happy -- and yet I'd bet you'd classify me as a lefty. I just don't think the world is perfect because I'm OK (that's fuck you I got mine syndrome). I think that inherent advantages of birth and financial circumstance count as unearned, and make for unfair competition. So basing the entire notion of success on financial success, when some people get a running start, is, well, tacky. Wendy P.

Don't get to PA's. Wendy P.

I have a feeling it's a Moderate in Name Only Wendy P.

Well, to be fair, Brent does consider himself to be a contrarian. Me, I'd rather set my own course, rather than find ones I can call out because they're not what I'd have done. Wendy P.

In Houston, it’s probably the fact that people feel comfortable wearing T-shirts that proclaim liberal values, or don’t wear MAGA hats. There was a guy with a man bun, and my son said it was the least Bubba-like one Wendy P.

At the gun range i was at with my son last month silhouette targets were the default. And that’s the most progressive one in Houston (according to my son, who lives there). Wendy P.

If they're illegal, but close, the same people who feel free to speed on the freeway are going to feel free to buy a gun out of state. It's not like there are any sort of controls at interstate borders. Wendy P.

Sounds like the NRA's slippery slope has worked brilliantly Wendy P.

I guess, then, it's the righties' lack thereof that leads to a smug sense of superiority. Wendy P.

Boy, that's an excellent question. Never heard of one, but given that it would only likely be reported in a social media era, who knows. And there's the whole world. But definitely no one on any of the nude jumps I took part in (well, all 3-4 or whatever) Wendy P.

Yeah, this. As long as people know who's inferior to them, they don't have to work to make themselves better than they already are. Wendy P.

It might have been you who posted about the loathsome man who was called in the kill all of the rats in a city -- how no matter how loathsome he was, the rats were a worse problem. Of course, that was an analogy for Trump. Personally, I think that Trump is the loathsome man who will encourage worse pests than the rats that he was originally "hired" to kill. So I'll vote for whoever has the best chance of keeping him out of the presidency. No, Biden was never my first choice. But Trump is my last. I'd rather have RFK Jr than him. But barring someone dropping dead (if only!), the race is between Biden and Trump, so I'm voting for one of them. Biden hasn't done a bad job. He's by no means perfect, but with a Congress who's happy to hurt the country as long as it also hurts Biden's chances of being re-elected, I'm not sure what he could accomplish. Wendy P.